EA Forks Over $750 Million for PopCap

PopCap sells their soul to a Satan-like gaming entity.

Oh sweet irony. Last week, I interviewed Ron Powers, vice president of product management at PopCap. In that interview, he stated that online passes, a concept set in motion to devalue used content, were not used at PopCap because, "egos are not part of that assessment."

Well, things change. The company that founded the online pass, also known as "Project $10," now owns PopCap. In a deal worth $750 million ($650 million in cash, $100 million in stock), PopCap has a publisher following weeks of speculation. Now it seems egos are in play, the once incredibly consumer and media friendly PopCap now under the banner of a company who remains the exact opposite. EA's $10 "online pass" costs more than many of PopCap's full featured games.

Obviously, it's impossible to say what will change. We could have yearly versions of Plants vs. Zombies, where each year the zombie roster changes. Or, maybe they'll keep individual zombies out of the main product and charge $3 for each, treating them as add-on, downloadable content. Ooh, or better yet, they'll cut the cords to all of the online servers for their games because of costs, this on the same day they fork over $750 million on a casual game developer.

Matt Paprocki is a 13-year veteran of the video game, movie, and home media scene. He has written thousands of reviews, has been published on a variety of websites, and contributes his thoughts daily on a diverse range of topics.